Some schools of martial arts are so idiosyncratic to the person who founded them that they alone are able to perform them as intended. Certainly, their senior students might get close to the founder’s vision but the truebessense of what makes them a new school is sometimes impossible to be taught/transmitted and will be elusive to others. I‘m not referring to peculiarities in physique like limb-length ratios, tendon insertion differences etc ( well, perhaps neural cytoarchitecture) but something beyond the physical that makes those founders, and their arts, unique.
I’ve yet to see anyone approach Bruce Lee‘s performance of Jet Kune Do. Hironori Ohtsuka’s performance of Wado Ryu is markedly different to his senior students. Ip Man’s Wing Chun looks unique to him.
Are we kidding ourselves that we can even approach performing the uniqueness of some arts and if so, why study that system?
I’ve yet to see anyone approach Bruce Lee‘s performance of Jet Kune Do. Hironori Ohtsuka’s performance of Wado Ryu is markedly different to his senior students. Ip Man’s Wing Chun looks unique to him.
Are we kidding ourselves that we can even approach performing the uniqueness of some arts and if so, why study that system?